Wizard's Legacy
by Alice Rakuen
Summary: After discovering she is an Abdal, Beatrice Childs is given a choice by the Powers That Be; Give up her power forever or pass her power onto another wizard. She makes what she thinks is a wise choice, but she has done exactly what the Lone One wanted...
1. Discovery

Disclaimer Although this story does not completely revolve around Diane Duane's characters, all the concepts of Abdals, Wizardry, and the like were created by the wonderful and creative Diane Duane and not me. No sueing me! /disclaimer 

**Prologue**

_It's strange how a legacy can be passed on. How some prophecies can seem to be correct at first but then... they are fulfilled by someone else than the one who started them. Yes, it is possible to pass on a legacy, pass on a dream, even pass on power. Some Wizards know this but seldom do they pass a torch to another unless they die before something is finished. Even then though, even then the outcome is usually very different than the person who started the task intended it to end. This type of work is dangerous, but in this case necessary._

"Get out!" She screamed at her daughter.

"But mom-"

Beatrice's mother threw a plate at her. She ducked and it shattered as it hit the kitchen wall. "Get out you demon child!"

"Mom, it's not like that-"

"GET OUT!"

"We do the One's work mom! _God's _work!"

"Liar!" Beatrice's mother got ready to throw another plate, she closed her eyes and put her hands over her face, but... the yelling had stopped, she didn't hear a plate break, and it was cold. Beatrice opened her eyes to find herself under the canopy of a tree in the park not very far away from her partner's house. She hadn't even thought of accessing her teleportation spells, especially not this one. But there was no way in hell she could go back home so she decided to take a little stroll over to her partner's house who live about three and a half blocks away from where she stood. She would have just magically popped over to his doorstep but the stresses of the day had left her drained and the transit she had just done (even if by accident) had wasted even more of her precious energy.

She looked at her watch. Nine fifteen p.m. Beatrice hoped her partner didn't mind an unannounced visit from her on a Sunday night. She felt like crying. Her mother had just kicked her out of the house because she had discovered she was a wizard. What was she going to do now? She couldn't legally get a job for another year, her whole family would be against her now, her partner had enough on his own plate to deal with, and how would she explain something like this to her boyfriend? He didn't even know she was a wizard. About half a block away from her partner's house, the very distraught wizardess sat on the curb near a bus stop and put her hand out to summon her Wizard's manual so she could send a brief message of warning to her partner. Her heart skipped a beat in panic and she stopped the summoning immediately. Her boyfriend had her manual. To those who weren't wizards, the book sometime appeared as a novel. He was going to read the story. If it suddenly disappeared from his hands what would he think? "Damn my faulty memory." She said to herself. "That could have been bad."

Beatrice sighed and stood. She quickened her pace as thunder rolled in the distance. A storm had been threatening to roll in all day and it looked like it had finally gotten here. She reached the shelter of her partner's porch just as the rain started with the aid of a small wizardry. For a moment she just stood and watched her partner's happy family go about their mostly happy lives through his front window. She half smiled at them all and knocked hard on the door.

"I'll get it," Jeff (her partner) said from inside.

"Who is it dad?" His son asked.

"Don't know. Adam, Natalie, get to bed okay? You've got school tomorrow."

They muttered their goodnights unhappily and began to head up the stairs. Jeff caught them and gave them a ferocious hug and tickled their ribs. "Don't be so grumpy!" He said as he laughed with his children. They ran up the stairs. He opened the door, still smiling. "Oh... Hi Bee..." His smile went away. "Is everything okay?"

She shook her head fiercely as tears began to stream down her face. Her partner enveloped her in a tight hug. "Come on inside." Jeff said gently. "You can tell me all about it."

**Chapter 1: **

A brown haired teenage girl lay curled up amongst pillows and blankets on the couch. Jeff, dressed in his work attire, sighed and shook his head as he set two coffee cups down on top of the entertainment center. _What am I going to do with you?_ He thought to himself. He shook her shoulder gently. "Bee, wake up please."

She rolled over to face him and opened her eyes. "Morning."

Jeff retrieved the coffee cups and handed Beatrice the one filled with black coffee. "No cream, no sugar."

"Thanks." She sipped the coffee and laughed. "This is gonna sound cheesy, but thanks... for everything." She took another sip of coffee to shut herself up.

He ruffled her hair playfully. "You're welcome. Bee, you're like family. I wouldn't have just left you out on the street after last night."

"I don't want to be a burden to you though."

Jeff took a sip of his coffee. "We're Wizards Bee, we'll think of something. For now though, I need to get to work and you need to get to school."

"Do I have to go?" She whined and made puppy dog eyes at her beloved mentor, partner, and friend.

"Yes."

Nathanael rolled over in bed, unable to fall asleep. That was certainly an interesting book he had borrowed from his girlfriend. After another few minutes of tossing and turning he flipped on his lamp. He ran his finger down the book's spine. A strange tingling sensation went up his finger, into his hand, and traveled up his arm into his shoulder. "A little old to be believing in magic aren't we Nate?" He picked up the book, opened it to the page with the Wizard's Oath on it. "Even still..." If it was real though, this was some pretty serious stuff he'd have to deal with as a Wizard. He wouldn't read the Oath out loud, not yet at least. He flicked out the light and decided he'd sleep on it.

With a muffled popping sound, Beatrice appeared in her old bedroom. Everything was just where she had left it. She hadn't told Jeff she would be raiding her old house today. It was a necessary discomfort though. She had left her schoolbooks there last night when she left. Later she'd try to persuade her partner to help her move the bigger stuff. For now though, she just changed into clean clothes and grabbed her backpack. With another _pop_ she was inside the back corner of the library at her high school.

No one had noticed her. That of course, was due to a cloaking spell she had placed around the area before making the 'jump'. Beatrice waited until the first bell rang and headed off to her first period class, Honors English.

The girl next to her poked her in the shoulder with her pencil. "Beatrice, are you okay?" She whispered.

Beatrice stopped tapping her pencil on her desk and forced the look of nervousness to leave her face. "Yeah, fine." She tried to leave the thought of her mother screaming at her the previous night and pay attention to the teacher's lecture on "To Kill a Mockingbird" but she couldn't stay focused for much more than a second.

The teacher began drawing a diagram on the dry-erase board in the front of the class. "And if we look at some of the smaller details of the book-"

_My threw the plate at me because... she was afraid of me!_

"We will see that religion and British aristocracy are-"

_"Get out!" "But mom, I'm really not a demon child, I really don't worship Satan."_

"The basis of the Southern culture that Scout and Jem grew up in-"

_"Mom please don't do this!" "Get away!" She looked like she wanted to kill me..._

"On a different note-"

_"I'll call your father! He'll know what to do with you!" _

"Despite the fact that there was a lot of animosity towards blacks in the South-"

_"Look mom!" "Shut up!" "NO! Mom, **look**! I'm wearing a cross mom! It doesn't burn me!"_

"Many people don't know that-"

_"GET OUT!"_

"Many of the foods in Southern culture-"

_Why'd you do this to me mom? Do you really think I'm a demon?_

"Were brought to America by the black slaves. Also- Yes Max?"

"Why doesn't Boo ever come out of his house?" A boy in the back of the classroom asked.

"Nice try Max, but I'm not answering that. That is your homework tonight everyone!" Groans filled the room. Beatrice rolled her eyes. You would think by ninth grade people would have outgrown habits like that. "Answer Max's question!"

"Does hat mean I don't have to answer it Mrs. Allen, since everyone else will just answer it for me?"

"Again Max, nice try. But you have to do the homework too."

The bell rang. On to second period.


	2. Creation and Further Discoveries

"You should have waited for me to get your stuff." Jeff said, leaning against the kitchen door frame.

"I needed to get my school books!" Beatrice stood a few feet away from Jeff near the couch in the living room.

He sighed. "We'll need to go back again."

"I know, but where would I keep my stuff?" She shuffled her feet. "I'm sorry to cause you trouble Jeff, I really am. I can find somewhere else to stay if you want."

"No," He closed his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose. "No, you're no trouble. I'm just a little stressed. Work's been hard this week and I haven't been getting enough sleep at night." He opened his eyes and walked over to the fridge taking a Corona out for himself and a coke for Beatrice, "You get along with my kids and my wife likes you, you can stay Bee." He laughed a little, but not because something was funny. It was a sort of scolding laugh. "You think too loudly Bee. Don't worry about money or anything of the like. You're a more valuable Wizard than you know, the Powers will compensate for normal child support."

She wasn't quite sure what he was talking about but she kept quiet, sipping her coke. The front door opened and shut loudly as Natalie came in from outside, an old cocker-spaniel golden-retriever mix dog followed behind her. The dog immediately ran to Jeff and looked up at him expectantly.

"What do you want dog?" He scratched the top of his head. The dog wagged his tail.

"Hi Beatrice," Natalie said, "Hi Daddy. What's for dinner?"

He smiled wickedly. "That depends on what you're going to make me!" Beatrice had seen this exchange of conversation go on many times at her partner's house. Jeff loved to tease his children and his children loved to tease him.

Natalie didn't seem up for this little rouse today though. She sighed and said; "I'll go feed Jack." She patted the dog's head and told him to come.

Jeff trapped his daughter in a hug as she passed. "Are you okay?"

She smiled at her father, "Yeah, fine. Just tired."

Jeff released her and turned back to Beatrice who appeared to be thinking something over very intensely. "I think I have an idea," she said and ran off to get a pencil and her notebook that she kept her spells in. She scribbled a few things down, a summary of what the spell she had been thinking about would do. She handed it to Jeff. "Will that work?"

He nodded. "That's a good idea."

"I was looking over some of the details about Wizardly Exchanges that some kids do a few days ago. That spell would be similar to their temporary pup-tents."

"It's different though. This isn't just your normal temperospatial-claudication... It almost looks like you would be creating actual matter here." He shook his head, his eyes wide in astonishment. "Do you know how much energy that kind of thing would need?"

"Yes." She replied matter-of-factly. "We could do it."

He cocked his head to the side a little and looked at the girl. He knew what she was, he knew they could do the spell successfully in theory if all their written work was correct. This would be a very intricate spell. He blinked and nodded. "We can do it." As an after thought he added, "Later. I'm going to make dinner. Want to help?"

Beatrice nodded and when Jeff went to get some frozen chicken out of the fridge she went directly for the spice cabinet. It was a lot easier to work as a team when you could hear someone think...

"When's your wife going to be home?" Beatrice was writing speech symbols down in her notebook very feverishly. She'd stop every now and then, read her work, erase something and replace it with something else, and then then the pattern would start over again.

"She should be home around midnight... Her shift at the hospital was shorter tonight." Jeff looked up from his own spell work to read the clock. "Damn, it _is _somewhere around midnight. Get to bed Bee, you've got school tomorrow."

The younger Wizard sighed. She knew better than to argue. As long as she was in this house she would be under Jeff's rules. "Night." She said and trudged up the stairs to Natalie's room where Jeff had set up a cot for her. She paused at the top of the stairs as Jeff's wife walked in. They had been married for many years but anyone who saw them could see that they were still just as much in love today as they had been when they first got married. _Go to be Bee._ Jeff mind-spoke to her. She smiled and said back, _I'll give you two kids some privacy._ Jeff gave Beatrice the mental equivalent of a friendly punch in the shoulder. She went off to bed.

It was Saturday morning, five days after the initial start of writing the spell. Six days after Beatrice had been kicked out of her home. Six days after Jeff had made a new permanent addition to his household.

Jeff carefully looked over the spell, line by line. The parts he had written and the parts Beatrice had written were in two different colors of ink as to save confusion of who was in charge of what element of the spell. "You already ran it through the automatic spell checker?"

"Yes, I used your manual to do it this morning."

"Why didn't you use yours?" Jeff asked curiously.

"I... um... well... It wasn't available." Beatrice's face turned very red. Nathanael still hadn't returned her manual.

He shook his head at his young partner but didn't question her further. "Let's get started then." The two walked up the stairs to the second floor of Jeff's house. They stood in front of a small piece of blank wall. "You may start it."

Beatrice nodded and closed her eyes. She took in a deep breath, let it out, took in a deep breath, let it out slowly. She moved her hand softly across the air in front of her as if she were touching water. A thin silver thread wound around her finger. She gently pulled it and spoke several words in the Speech. The English equivalent of these words does no justice to the actual words that were spoken but many words in the Speech don't translate directly into English because they are fragments of thought and feeling, none the less, a non-Wizard would have heard, "I create and open a door."

A wooden door slowly materialized on the empty wall space.

Jeff began to speak. The air quavered like water at every movement of the wizards. As her partner spoke, Beatrice took the time to observe the longing in the walls and everything around them to hear what the two were saying. Natalie and Adam stood half way up the stairs, observing the spectacle. Jeff touched the door and the wood rippled and became still again. Carefully, he touched the doorknob and opened the door. Behind the door was a black emptiness. A part of space and time with nothing in it. It wasn't dark, just empty. Jeff stepped onto the emptiness shortly followed by Beatrice. Most of the spoken work was done, the door was created and the claudication open, now came the hard part.

Jeff and Beatrice combined their power and slowly started the second part of the spell. Jeff opened his palm and watched as a string of Speech symbols arranged themselves in front of him, the light from the symbols made the corners of the emptiness glow a soft blue-gray. Beatrice touched one of the symbols and tied it with a Wizard's knot to her own string of symbols. With her mind, she gently pressed the symbols. Some of them multiplied as new ones appeared. Jeff added pressure with his mind as well. The symbols elegantly arranged themselves into a beautifully intricate stairway. Beatrice added a final symbol to the stairway and it went from being a delicate looking piece of art made of Speech symbols to being made of hard wood.

Later, Beatrice sat cross-legged in the middle of her room at the top of the stairs. All of it was made from wizardry. The room was empty of furniture but that would be remedied when she and Jeff made a raid on her old house. The room wasn't very large, but it was comfy, although that had been programmed into it by the spell. The walls were a warm cream color and the carpet was dark blue-gray. School books were stacked in a neat pile by the door which led to the landing at the top of the staircase and a few pillows and blankets were folded in a corner under a large window. It was late afternoon now. Jeff was taking a nap in he and his wife's bedroom downstairs. Beatrice didn't understand why he had been so tired (or so edgy) after they had finished the construction of the addition to Jeff's house where she would be living. She was very proud of their project. It was clever. The tower was invisible from the street and this made Beatrice feel powerful. Jeff didn't seem to share her enthusiasm. After their work was finished he had barely said a word to Beatrice and just went downstairs to sleep. When she had asked what was wrong he had snapped back, "Well Bee not every wizard can create that large an amount of partially existent matter and just bounce back immediately afterwards!" With that he quickly went downstairs. She was tired too, but it wasn't something a cup of coffee or a fifteen minute cat nap wouldn't fix. She knew she was powerful but Beatrice had always regarded her partner as being just as powerful despite their difference in power levels. Was he just getting old?

Beatrice tried to dismiss that last thought as quickly as she could. She didn't want Jeff to get old even though she knew it was inevitable. Sometimes she just assumed they would pal around like they did now forever and a day, but of course her logical mind told her even with wizardry that was impossible. But, according to most Wizards some of the things she did would be impossible for them. Beatrice's mind began to race, searching for all the things she had ever learned about why a Wizard might have power levels as high as hers. There was the occasional wonder-child that had an _incredibly _large spike of power before and during their Ordeals but that went away over time. She had been a wizard for three years and her power remained and as she learned more she was able to control her power more which made it even more formidable.

She had read a chapter in her manual a few weeks ago about Abdals. Abdals were Wizards with incredibly large amounts of power they were always given this power for a reason. They had a very important task to do usually. In days of old, Abdals were often called prophets by some religions. Abdals were also never supposed to know what they were, at least in this day and age they weren't. The knowledge in the world in its current state would somehow corrupt them in most cases. If an Abdal found out what they truly were, their power was usually lost and their task was either passed on to another wizard unknowingly or in most cases, lost forever. The Lone Power was a great fan of the latter consequence. _I couldn't be an Abdal could I? _Beatrice thought, edging over to the corner where her blankets and pillows were. She suddenly felt like sleeping. _What other explanation is there? _A charming voice said in her mind. _You must be an Abdal. _ She tried to shut the voice out, not believe it... But she did believe it. She was used to being different and she had thought she finally fit in somewhere when she had become a Wizard. Even in the Wizardly community she stood out though, even here she was different. Beatrice Childs was an Abdal.

Her eyelids were heavy but she wasn't particularly tired. Helplessly, she fell into darkness and a very deep sleep...


	3. Choices

Jeff's voice was rising steadily. He was a very short Irishman but could be incredibly intimidating when he was angry. "Well, I'm sorry if I couldn't keep her completely naive! Excuse me if people get smart and grow up!"

The young woman standing in the kitchen leaned against the counter and sighed. "Can you please wake her up for us? We have things we need to discuss." The young Spanish-looking man standing next to her remained silent for the time being.

"No! I'm not going to go and wake her up as a matter of fact. I think I'll just make you wait." Jeff usually wouldn't act like this but he was tired, stressed, and just wanted to spend a nice Sunday with his children and his wife who had the day off. Although his family knew he was a wizard (there was no way he could have gotten married without telling his wife) and understood when he had to do wizardly business he didn't want to cancel his family's plans of going paint-balling, something he and his wife both enjoyed despite the fact that they were adults, that day. He didn't like that these two young upstarts were disturbing the peace in his house.

Beatrice woke to the sound of Adam and Natalie in an argument on the floor below her. _Abdal,_ was the first word that came to her mind. She tried to make it go away. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she put on a clean pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, and pulled on her gray converse sneakers without socks. She would see what the fuss was about downstairs (It was always entertaining to watch the two) and then she thought she'd go for a walk over to Nathanael's house. "What are you guys doing?" She asked skeptically when she found Natalie holding Adam in a headlock.

"Wrestling." The two replied at the same time. Beatrice smiled and left them. This was not uncommon for them to do. They never even tried to hurt each other in these little spats and always seemed to have ended their argument by the time they were done. Beatrice had never had that kind of relationship with her younger brother. When they had fought they _tried_ to hurt each other. Her brother had often said he hated her but despite that, she missed him.

She got halfway down the stairs before she stopped to listen to the conversation Jeff was having in the kitchen with two people she didn't know. His wife Anne sat on the couch in the living room trying to watch the news and ignore the disturbance in the kitchen.

"We really must talk to her." A woman said. She had a rowan wand in the pocket of her jeans.

"That has to be the fourth time you've said that," Jeff replied bitterly. "She'll be up soon enough."

_What's going on?_ Beatrice mind-spoke to her partner timidly.

Jeff sipped his coffee and acted like he hadn't heard anyone say anything. _These two are here about the 'independent research' (I suppose we could call it that) that you did last night._

_So I really am..._

_Yes. _The way he had said that... Beatrice shivered. _Will you please come down?_

_Jeff, is it bad that I'm a little scared?_

_No. Please come down Bee._

She slowly made her way down the stairs. Anne turned her head and gave the Wizard girl a half smile as she passed the couch and walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning Bee." Jeff said, refilling his coffee cup. It was very clear he hadn't offered any to his visitors. That's what they got for disrupting his Sunday, no coffee.

In a very professional tone, the woman greeted her. "Hello. You must be Beatrice." She put her hand out for her to shake. Beatrice took it but only because it was proper etiquette, not because she was particularly pleased the meet the woman. "My name is Nita Callahan and this is my partner," She motioned to the man next to her, "Christopher Rodriguez." He nodded respectfully. "We're Advisories from New York. We were sent here because we have done some extensive research on Abdals and... well, I assume you know the rest of the reason why we're here.

"This is Washington state though, what are two of New York's Wizards doing all the way over here?" Beatrice stood close to Jeff for comfort as his children would.

"Abdal specialists in the United States are few and far between." Christopher said. "We were the only ones available."

Nita turned to her partner. "Do you want to tell her the Powers' decision or do you want me to do it?"

"You can do it." Christopher turned to Beatrice and Jeff. "You are lucky in a way, the Powers have been a little lenient with you."

"As you most likely know, if an Abdal discovers what they are their power is lost. With you though," Nita said, "As Kit (Sorry, _Christopher_) already said, the Powers have been lenient with you. You have a choice, I suggest you make the right decision-"

"What is the right decision?"

"You'll have to decide that yourself. As I was saying though, your choices are, let your power be lost or pass your power onto another Wizard?"

Jeff looked at his young partner. He noticed for the first time she was catching up to him in height.

"Will I still be able to be a Wizard or will I lose everything?"

"You'll still be a wizard, but you just won't be an Abdal. What's your choice?" Christopher had spoken this time.

"Well then... I ass my power onto... Jeff!"

"Can't do that." He said.

"Why?"

"Because I would know I was an Abdal."

Nita took her manual out of a personal claudication in her pocket. "It's best if you pass your power to a newer Wizard. Preferably a per-Ordeal Wizard. Let's look at some new additions to the Wizardly family in your area..." She opened her manual and traced her finger down a page. "Well isn't this convenient? A boy became a wizard just a couple days ago. A 'Nathanael Marshall.' Hmm... He seems to be entering wizardry later in his life than most.

"He'll do..." Beatrice croaked.

On Friday afternoon of the week Beatrice had been kicked out of her house (Although he was oblivious to that fact) Nathanael walked the five blocks home from his high school, hands in his pockets, eyes on his feet. He sighed, frustrated with himself. He was a senior in high school and would be 18 soon. He was, in society's opinion, too old to believe in magic. That book though... That book that Beatrice had lent him (He smiled at the thought of her) made it all seem so real and he couldn't have imagined the tingling sensation that came with touching the book. It almost felt as if it longed to be read. His logical mind told him he was silly but then again, what would it hurt if he read the supposed Wizard's Oath and it was just a story? It _wouldn't _hurt.

He lost himself in a daydream. What if Bee was a Wizard? They could be Wizards together. Visions of the two of them traipsing across the universe to fight unknown evil forces danced through his mind for a moment. He was brought back to earth when he almost stepped off the curb into the street.

They (whoever 'They' were) had made it very clear in the book though, that Wizard's were recognized for being different. This might draw attention to himself but that was a minor consequence of Wizardry. He was already thought of as weird at his school, no one ever bothered him though. Nathanael disregarded this consequence. The ordeal They had spoken of though... That would certainly be a bigger problem. He could get through it though. But what if the Oath rejected him because of his age? He was a little old to be starting Wizardry, but maybe that would mean he'd be wiser in his choices. He laughed at himself for a minute because he had blamed these negative thoughts on the Lone Power for a moment without even thinking about it. He had made his choice. Even if the Lone Power was trying to corrupt him, it wouldn't work. He could be stubborn when he wanted to be.

After leaping up the porch steps, Nathanael unlocked his front door and went into his house. The dogs greeted him with licks and enthusiastic barking until he sent them into the backyard. The two cats slept on the couch. They opened one uninterested eye when he walked in and flicked their tales almost simultaneously before going back to sleep. Besides the animals no one else was home. His parents wouldn't be home until five and his younger brother would be home in a little less than an hour. Nathanael would take this time for himself.

After getting a quick drink of water he tried to call Bee but when he called her house and asked for her he was answered with a _click_ and a dial-tone. _Maybe she's grounded, _he thought. With a tired sigh, he sat at the kitchen table and retrieved 'So You Want to be a Wizard' from his backpack. Carefully opening it to the page with the Oath on it, he carefully read it over one last time. "If it works... What will I tell mom and dad?" Nathanael was an honest boy, he hid _nothing_ from Beatrice, and he thought that something this big (supposing the Oath worked) he would have to tell his parents about being a wizard eventually. What if he had to leave to some other planet while he still lived in their house? How would he hide things from them if he did wizardry in his bedroom? He sighed again and decided he'd figure that out later. "In Life's name and for Life's sake..."


	4. The Challenge of the Lone Power

In a beautiful brick office building surrounded by various gardens kept in perfect care, in a conference room at a long oak table, sat a strange looking group of four people.

The first was a woman in her mid twenties who was dressed rather casually to be in an office. She wore dark jeans, a black hooded sweatshirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, and converse sneakers. Her hair was pulled back in a horse-tail. The strangest part about her ensemble was the magnificent sword that hung from her belt. She sat with her arms crossed, her eyes glinted with courage and curiosity.

The second was a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties dressed in slacks, a button up shirt, and a tie. He had dark skin, curly black hair, and sympathetic eyes. He was tapping his fingers on the table in front of him thoughtfully. Many books and scrolls were piled next to his seat.

The third was a man in his twenties with short cropped blond hair and soft blue eyes. He had a very thoughtful, complacent look about him. He was dressed in khaki pants and a blue polo shirt. He was whispering something to the woman who smiled. He was the type of man who always smiled an infectious even when things were down.

The forth and last person in the group entered the room alone and closed the door quietly behind him. He had a gentle smile on his face and was slightly more dressed up than the other three. He wore a grayish suit and black shoes. His brown hair was combed and gelled. He was not stunningly handsome nor unpleasing to look at. He his looks were simple but everyone in the room had become silent upon his entrance and all eyes had turned to him. Wisdom showed in his face and kindness and love were in his eyes. He walked to the head of the table and took time to look into the face of each of his companions and smiled at them. He set down a file folder of papers and sat. "Let's get started." He said, opening the file folder.

"What is it this time?" The woman asked, her voice calm and slightly tired.

"There have been a few complications with an Abdal in North America it appears." The man with blond hair (Raphael) said, peering over at the papers in the open folder.

The man sitting next to the many scrolls and books bit his thumb nail, thinking and said, "Complications generally imply that the Abdal found out what they were. Why hasn't her power just been absorbed into the universe?"

"A very good question Gabe! Anyone have any ideas? Michael?"

"Actually," She said, "I do have some ideas. If I do recall correctly, we have a lot invested in this girl. A certain prophecy I do believe."

"Exactly right," The Man at the head of the table replied. "This is an open ended prophecy that was given to this girl because of the amount of innocence she was able to retain into adolescence. She knows where she stands and it looks like for the most part she won't fall into temptation. It seems though, our lovely friend Lucifer has made sure she knows what she is, counting on Us to do what We always do with Abdals who have discovered their secret-"

"If he wasn't my brother-" Michael fingered the hilt of her sword.

"That's enough Mike!" He said. "We can't let this prophecy go. It is connected with others that are to be put into place in the future. Whichever choice she makes, whichever side she chooses to fight for will control what future prophecies will be fulfilled. Only, now we can't use her as a vessel for this prophecy. We need to transfer it to someone else. Actually _she _has to do it, We just have to help her a little."

"Lord," Gabriel asked, "Why did you ask us about this? I am certain You could have come to a wise decision Yourself." He suddenly remembered his manners and bowed his head. "I meant no disrespect by that."

"I know you didn't." He smiled warmly at Gabriel. "But to answer your question, I asked you all here because I trust you and sometimes it is best to think things over by talking about them. Also, I need someone to find an Abdal specialist near the girl that can go to her and tell her of the predicament, but neither she nor the wizards we send to her can know about the prophecy."

Gabriel began to look through his scrolls, "The closest specialists to the girl are in New York City. A 'Juanita Callahan' and 'Christopher Rodriguez'.

"I'll go speak with them. I used to know them." Michael said.

He laughed. "Oh yes! You were a parrot for a time."

"That was because my Lord asked it of me." She bowed her head to hide a smile.

Raphael spoke. "Might I do anything Lord?"

He shook his head. "Not at this second, but I may need you to speak with the girl, but you see, We cannot affect her decision on who she picks ourselves. She must do it on her own. We can only hope she makes a wise choice." He gathered His things, closed the folder.

"You know," Said a smooth voice from the back of the room, "It won't be that easy. I have influences all over that pathetic little world." He added the next bit very spitefully. "With all due respect (which isn't much), I _will _make whoever the girl chooses fall." Clad all in white and looking very angelic was the beautifully handsome Lone Power.

"Lucifer!" Michael began to rise, hand on her sword. Raphael reached out to stop her.

"Michael! Sit!" He demanded. "He has every right to be in here as long as he is polite."

"Near as polite as he can be at least," Gabriel added.

"That was a little uncalled for." Lucifer said cooly.

"Let me apologize for him," Michael said, "My lack of manners can be contagious."

"Always a pleasure to see you all, but I suppose now that I've said my part, I should be going." Before he walked out the door, the Lone Power turned back around and made one final statement: "I have ears and eyes in many places on Earth and they have given me a very good hunch on who the girl will pick to be the successor of this... 'Wizard's Legacy'. You should all tread carefully for now, I still have a few rather _nasty_ tricks up my sleeves." With that he left the conference room and closed the door loudly.

Wizards manuals in book forms were hard to come by in modern times. Often in more recent years, the knowledge a Wizard needs is planted into their mind where they do best to either remember it or right it down in a notebook. Jeff came from a long line of Wizards. His manual had been passed on to him by his grandfather. Beatrice wasn't sure where her manual came from. Her father had given it to her on her twelfth birthday, thinking it was a novel (It appeared this way to most non-wizards). Many European Wizards had been functioning without manuals and only their knowledge for centuries, but for some reason their seemed to be more manuals in book form in the United States. Wizards in Japan had designed a computer program to simulate a manual, though it was not widely used.

Somewhere around 11 o'clock a.m. on that fateful Sunday, Beatrice Childs left her partner's home and walked the six blocks to Nathanael's house with the intent of getting her manual back as well as to have a little 'chat' with him. Jeff had been sure to warn her not to let anything slip when she spoke to him. He doubted the Powers would be up to finding another Wizard to replace this new Abdal. Briskly, Beatrice knocked on the front door of Nathanael's house. His mother answered the door.

"Hi, Bee!" She said, smiling warmly. "Come on in. Nate's still asleep but I've been meaning to get him up... Unless you want to go wake him?"

The young girl grinned wickedly. "Have any water balloons?"

His mother smiled. "No, but you can let the dogs loose on him if you want." With that, Beatrice trotted down the stairs into the basement. She quietly entered the room and stood at the foot of Nathanael's bed, just to gaze upon the world's newest Abdal for a moment. She smiled, feeling giddy for no reason at all. He was a handsome boy, tall (he stood six feet and two inches high), short cropped brown hair that was so dark brown most thought it was black unless a bright light source shined directly through his hair, he was more pale than most boys his age but not in a ghostly way, the way he was built showed his Cherokee heritage, he wasn't a full blooded Cherokee but you could tell he had some Native American blood in him. He had a very stubborn jaw and beautiful gray eyes that sparkled when he was happy. She loved him dearly.

Quietly, she went over to the edge of his bed and crawled under the covers with him. She kissed him softly but he didn't stir. She sighed, grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently, and kissed him one more time. "Nate, wake up. It's past eleven and you're just being lazy." She could have taken her manual and left (it was sitting in plain site on Nathanael's computer desk) but their talk probably couldn't wait. "Nate, please get up."

"Only if you kiss me again." He hadn't opened his eyes.

She kissed him.

He opened his eyes and acted surprised. "Oh, hello Bee! How long have you been there?"

Beatrice rolled her eyes and got out of his bed. Nathanael tossed his blankets aside and sat up, rubbing his eyes and yawning. Beatrice turned around, her arms crossed. "How's wizardly life treating you?"

He was suddenly awake, staring at his girlfriend. "How'd you know?"

She came to sit down next to him. _Maybe I shouldn't have surprised him like that._ "I'm a Wizard too."

He laughed dryly. "You have no idea how much that explains. I saw you disappear once and thought I was hallucinating."

She smiled a little. "So, have you tried to do anything yet?"

"I talked to my dogs and cats yesterday for a little while. Oh! And I fixed my computer when it was frozen just by talking to it."

She nodded. "Cool. I'll have to teach you some other stuff."

He hugged her around the shoulders. "I'd like that."

She took a deep breath. "I suppose this is a good time to tell you I got kicked out of my house for being a Wizard." Nathanael looked a little shocked but she didn't let him interrupt. "Despite the fact that we serve The One, my mom caught me doing a spell and decided I was a demon child who worshipped Satan and threw me out of the house."

He spoke very quickly, almost too fast for for his mind to absorb everything. "Wait... Well... Where have you been sleeping at night? Do you need a place to stay? I'm sure we could talk to my parents. If-"

Beatrice interrupted him. "Don't worry, I've been staying with Jeff. He's a Wizard too, we work together a lot and his family knows about wizardry. I'm going to warn you though, make a point to tell your parents about what you are. It will save a lot of trouble in the future." She touched his hand. "Sorry, I shouldn't have shocked you so soon after you woke up."

He shook his head. "Don't apologize, you apologize too much."

"So do you."

"I know." Nathanael smiled to himself as he thought of a memory of Jeff. When the two had started dating Beatrice's father had never given him a 'man to man' talk, Jeff had once. He wondered if wizardry is what had made him so scared of Jeff at the time. Nathanael towered over him and he had never intimidated him before. He wondered if Wizards were allowed to do things like that to help their own causes. "Will you help me explain wizardry to my parents when the time comes?"

"Of course." She put her head on his shoulder and sighed. "I guess it's my duty to tell you all the responsibilities that come with wizardry. Don't waste first of all, Wizards fight to slow entropy and a lot of that is by not wasting and by conserving energy as much as possible. (It's sort of a running joke among Wizards, but we're supposed to support public transportation). The Powers are usually more lenient with Wizards who have school or other responsibilities but be ready to go on errantry (Wizards' business) at a moment's notice. I can't think of anything else to tell you right now, I guess you'll learn along the way..." Beatrice was fairly happy that Nathanael had become a Wizard. He was smart but he also had a but of an inferiority complex so he would never suspect himself of being an Abdal. "Want to learn something today?"

He nodded and grinned.

Beatrice stood and retrieved her favorite wand (One made of copper wire, electrical wire, and a quartz crystal) from her claudication. "Lesson one: Local Short Transits." She smiled. "In lament terms; We're going to teleport to the top of the tallest building in the city. You're not afraid of heights are you?"

Jeff sat in his backyard with his wife. His two children were inside playing video games. He sighed happily, glad that the trials of this morning were through and he could spend the rest of the day with his family. It was too late to go paint-balling, but a quiet relaxing day was good too. Just as long as he could be with his family he was happy. He'd barbecue some steaks for dinner and he and his wife could watch a movie together once the kids went to sleep. He'd go back to work on Monday free of his stress and rested. He looked at his wife through the corner of his eye. She was admiring Jeff's garden. It was very colorful in its full bloom. The large horse-chestnut tree cast cool shade over the two. He whispered 'I love you.' to his wife. She whispered it back. This was perfect...

In the back of his mind he felt something come to his attention. _No, not this._ He thought. _Not now._ He waved his hand as his manual appeared and opened to the page with his listing in it. He was on assignment. "I'm sorry Anne." His peaceful Sunday was gone.


	5. A Shadow of Pain

**Author's Note:** Sorry it took so long to get the chapter up. I've been busy lately and had a sever case of writer's block, but it's finally done. Hope you guys like it!

Jeff checked the listing in his manual again. Whatever was going on needed to be attended to fairly quickly. He ran down the steep, slippery steps into his basement to retrieve his sword. He took it out of it's sheath and admired the blade for a minute. He had won it at a renascence fair a few years prior and had put a spell on it for emergency errantry in case he ran into anything nasty. He put it in his belt and it disappeared from the normal eye. A simple cloaking spell was necessary when taking it in public, non-wizards could be awfully touchy. He checked the manual again. Beatrice and the new Abdal Nathnael were on errantry as well. It also seemed that Jeff would have to go fetch them, they were not on urgent errantry... yet. He closed his eyes and concentrated on finding his young partner. "Got it." With a rush of air and a _pop_ he was gone.

Nathanael and Beatrice sat on top of a large bank building downtown. Beatrice wasn't completely certain it was the tallest building in town but it was tall. A spell sheltered the couple from the wind. With a second _pop_ Jeff arrived to find the two talking quietly to one another in each other's arms.

"Bee-"

She looked up.

"-We have work to do."

The two teenagers stood up, Nathanael looked confused. Beatrice checked her manual. "We're on errantry."

"Now?" The boy asked, an expression on his face somewhere between distressed and clueless.

Jeff and Beatrice nodded simultaneously. With a quick flick of her hand, Beatrice retrieved her wand from her claudication, she gripped it so hard her knuckles turned white. "What are we up against Jeff?" She asked.

He shook his head. "I don't know yet. I have to coordinates of where we're going in my manual though." He read them once more. This made him slightly more distressed. "Whatever it is, it's local." He shook his head again. "Local as in a few miles from here."

"Near one of the world gates?" Beatrice began adjusting her teleportation spell to accommodate the other two and added the coordinates from Jeff's manual.

He nodded. "The one in Auntie's Bookstore."

Nathanael stood and watched the other two. He had only been a wizard for a few days, he didn't know enough to help. He was afraid. The unknown had always scared him. He did the only thing he knew how to do to be useful, he fed some of his power into the spell so the others had to do less of the work. The three ended up on the third story of a large bookshop a few miles from the bank building. Behind them sounded a soft, steady pulse like that of a river. This was one of the local world gates that never seemed to need maintenance, non-wizards were deaf to the sound it made. Jeff looked over the banister onto the floors below. Good. There weren't many people here. If there was trouble they could handle it with minimal to no witnesses. His eyes scanned the first floor where the trouble was supposed to be. Everything seemed to be normal... except the shadow moving around in the teen novel section. The shadow didn't have a body attached to it. "That's it." Jeff said.

Beatrice stood next to Jeff, Nathanael slightly behind her. She looked at her partner, youthful twinkle gone from her eyes. "What is it?"

Jeff motioned for the two to follow him as he began to descend the stairs to the first floor. "I think it might have been an overshadowing."

"But," Beatrice replied, "That couldn't be could it? Over shadowing is just the Lone Power working through and controlling people. They still look the same."

Jeff shook his head, his pace quickening. "That's usually the case. Shadow creatures like that appear when a being has given in to the Lone Power's will completely. That, my young friends, is the beginnings of a peryton." The other two shivered. Perytons were not nice creatures. They quickened there paces to a jog but tried not to look to conspicuous to the woman looking through books in the gardening section on the second floor. "Have a shield spell ready Bee."

She nodded as they slowed their paces to a walk and crept into the area where the Shadow Creature had been seen.

The thing was right where they had seen it last. It was pacing back and forth, back and forth, not noticing the three sets of eyes peering at it from around the corner. It looked as if someone had died water black and molded it into the shape of a six foot tall human being. Whoever had made it had not taken the time to create details on it like a face. It had no nose and appeared to have no mouth. The only part of it that was any reflection of its former self was its pair of ice blue eyes but even those had lost all the humanity in them. They were eerily empty. The creature continued pacing in its crazed path as if waiting for something.

Beatrice sneezed.

The creature wheeled around and snarled as it finally saw the three Wizards and launched itself at the one who had made noise. She was the smallest and the youngest, she would be easy prey. Her soul would be easy to break. He was stopped suddenly as two of the three threw a bright circle at him. He tried to break through it but could not. It burned to get near the edges of it. It let out a shriek that only the Wizards heard but it sent a shiver through the spines of everyone in the store.

"That binding won't hold it for too long." Jeff said. "As it continues to undergo its transformation it will get stronger."

Out of instinct Nathanael threw a few more Speech symbols into the spell, strengthening Beatrice and Jeff's binding. "Can we banish it?" He asked.

Jeff and Beatrice exchanged glances. Jeff shook his head. "Technically we could but that wouldn't be the best idea. We don't want to dump it into another world where it will wreak havoc by accident and there is still some remnant of a human soul in there. It won't be there for much longer but it's still there."

"Wizardly intervention then? Maybe we could talk to it and explain it's still human, that it doesn't have to live like it does, tell it there is more to life than pain and destruction." Beatrice asked.

Jeff shook his head again. "We don't have time for that, and that's assuming it'd listen to reason anyway. We'd have to do something that would make him peaceful in what he has left of a human soul."

"Force-quit." Nathanael said.

"What?" The other two asked simultaneously.

"Like with a computer program. If it freezes up you have to do a force quit and then usually reboot it. Is there some way we could force it to be at peace and maybe have it start living over? I don't mean make it be born again, just maybe make it start living from the time before it became overshadowed, maybe we could put a spell on it afterward to give it a more positive outlook on things. Isn't hate what creates perytons anyway?"

"You can't force someone to be positive." Beatrice said.

Jeff thought for a minute. "That's actually a fairly decent idea. We _can_ probably force it to be at peace (It's going to be like wrestling with a pig though; the pig gets dirty but it won't care) but it has to decide to live again on its own."

"Should we try it then?" Wand at the ready, Beatrice began to draw her signature in the Speech in the air, the figures sparkled a little under the fluorescent lighting.

Jeff did the same.

Nathanael closed his eyes and thought, searching his mind for some sense of what he was, and how to describe it in the Speech. In the depths of his mind, he found it. As if he had done it every day, the boy traced the slender figures of his name in the air. When he opened his eyes he saw his name had linked with the others'. Instinct took over completely now. The three each began drawing their parts of the spell, speaking in harmony every now and then. A ring of characters drifted to the binding spell and replaced it. White light shone up from the letters that sat on the floor around the Shadow Creature. The Wizards stepped into the ring. Blinded by the light around it, the Shadow creature made no move to attack them. It hissed, _White Light burns I cannot see. Give me darkness! _

Jeff drew his sword, it sat loosely in his hand. He wasn't going to use it for fighting but it would help in the spell.

"_We just wish to speak with you._" Nathanael said. He looked at the others' faces, reading their expressions to make sure he hadn't done anything bad. Neither of them seemed to disapprove.

"_Do not wish to speak," _It said, "_Wish to fight, wish to kill. Let me free of this Wizard's trick!_" Snarling, it threw itself against the walls of the spell, but did not break free. It screeched in anger and lunged at the first Wizard it could get its hands on; Jeff.

Jeff hit it with the flat of his sword. "_Stop!_" He said before turning to the other two, "Get started now!"

Beatrice nodded and closed her eyes, weaving a web of restraint just so the Shadow Creature didn't hurt itself or them. For the most part still blinded by the light, the thing didn't see Beatrice when she threw the net-like spell over him. Nathanael searched his brain for something to do, finally decided to start by emitting a calming aura over the area. Not only would this help calm the beast in their midst, but it would help the three Wizards work by making them more relaxed as well. The newfound calm washed over them like a great wave. The Shadow Creature fought it at first but because of the restraint of the net around it and the fact that it was growing tired, it eventually succumbed to the spell.

"_Why are you so angry?_" Beatrice wove her question into the binding web and the three wizards saw the source of the Shadow Creature's misery, the very thing that had made him become what it was.

He (The thing) had been a happy man. He had a good job, a wife and a newborn baby whom he loved, he had everything he needed. But a few months prior his wife and young child had been killed in a car accident. He made himself reclusive, thinking no one would understand, lost his job, almost got evicted from his apartment, and let himself wallow in his misery. He didn't think to go to his family because a year before this event there had been a falling out in his family and, although he missed them he was too proud to apologize for his own stupidity he didn't go to them. He stayed alone. His friends left, he didn't care. He didn't care about anyone anymore. Then, one day he was just walking down the street and he met Him. He promised He could make all the pain go away, he could make it better, he wouldn't have to feel anymore if he didn't want to. All he had to do was do a few favors for Him.

A voice in the back of the Wizards' heads said, '_He was such a weak and broken soul. He is what the world will become. He is what _you_ will become one day.'_ A shiver went down each of their spines but not one of them would ever mention that voice to another living soul.

"_He promises empty things."_ Jeff said. "_The pain won't go away, you'll just go numb. You will lose what you are. Do you want to be a drone?"_

What had once been a man, struggled in the binding around it for a moment and snarled lazily as a tired dog might at a fly that plagues it but does nothing about it. It sighed the words, _Don't care._

_"It's okay to move on."_ Beatrice said.

_"Useless words." _The beast said.

The young girl shifted her feet nervously. _"If you lose yourself in this you won't feel anything anymore."_

_"What I want." _He sighed.

_"No!"_ She said. "_You won't feel anything at all! You won't feel sadness (I know that's what you want) but you won't feel happiness either."_

Nathanael decided to take a shot at this himself. "_I doubt you'll even feel physical things. No warmth from the sun, or ground beneath your feet, no..." _He searched his mind for another argument, "_No-_"

Jeff interrupted. "_No taste of food, you won't recognize beauty, you'll be nothing but an empty shell doing whatever someone asks. You'll be nothing but a slave, you'll have no purpose, no heart, no soul, _nothing!_"_

Although the shadow had no facial expressions to speak of, it wasn't hard to tell it was thinking with what it had left of it's mind and free will.

_"What did you love most as a human?"_

He turned his head in Jeff's direction. _"Don't remember." _He thought for another moment. _"People. Loved people. Loved my wife and child. No Wizard can bring them back."_

_"Most people have lost a loved one or two in their lifetime."_ Beatrice said.

It was Nathanael's turn again._ "Most of them are able to move on. There are other joys in life. No one can replace what you lost, but there is still so much out there in the world."_

"_Letting someone else control you only shows weakness,"_ Jeff said, "_If you let the one that promised you an end to pain destroy what you are you are only throwing away what you've been given and showing you weren't worth any effort to begin with." _

"_I am not week!"_ He snarled.

The three Wizards silently put a bit of force into their last statement, creating a spell much like the wave of calm. "_Try to live."_

A man in slacks and a button up shirt trotted up the front steps of an old house with a well groomed garden. He knocked on the door, put his hands in his pockets nervously, and waited. An old woman opened the door. Once she saw the man who was standing on her front step she took a step backward in shock. "David..."

"I'm sorry." He said.


	6. A Shadow of Fear

"Good job guys." Jeff said. The circle of light had fallen now, the rest of the spells had began to dissipate as well although there was some magical residue over the book store, everything was relatively normal.

"I better get home." Nathanael said. "I want to make sure every-thing's relatively normal back home. Are you coming Bee?"

Jeff nodded, giving her permission to go. "Sure." She said.

"Okay." Nathanael put his hands in his pockets. "Jeff, can we drop by in a little while? You know for a... de-brief sort of thing maybe. I just want to make things look normal at home for now. Bee and I just need to make an exit where my family can see so they don't walk into my room and see us disappear into thin air."

"That's fine." Jeff said. "We can talk over lunch if there's anything you want to talk about."

The Wizards went up the three flights of stairs to the world gate and went their separate ways.

Just as the two young Wizards popped back into his room, Nathanael's mother stuck her head through his door. "Nathan, we're going to the store do you need anything?"

"Can you get some cherry pop-tarts?"

His mother smiled. "Sure. What are you guys going to do?"

Nathanael looked over at Beatrice. "I think we're going to go get some lunch."

Beatrice woke with a start as Jeff set a coffee cup in front of her on the kitchen table. "You fell asleep Bee."

"Really? I didn't notice." She said as she yawned. Nathanael sat by the back door having an in-depth conversation with the dog, Jack.

"Not as easy doing all that work with a normal amount of power is it?" Jeff whispered into Beatrice's ear. He too yawned.

"It's really not as easy. I'm really tired." She whispered back. Jeff nodded at her statement in agreement. "Just look at him," she said, referring to Nathanael, "I don't think he's anymore tired than he was when we left this morning." She sighed and rested her chin in her hand. "Being normal is work."

Jeff chuckled and ruffled the young girl's hair. "Nathanael, do you want some coffee?"

"No thanks," he replied, stopping his conversation with the dog. He stood up, walked over to Beatrice and rubbed her shoulders. "You guys look tired."

"We are tired." The other two Wizards replied in unison. "I'm going to take a short rest." Jeff said as he walked off to his bedroom.

Nathanael's head turned quickly. "Did that tree just talk?"

Beatrice lazily looked out into the backyard. "The horse-chestnut? Yeah. You'll find out that a lot of things talk as you get deeper into your wizardry Nathan."

He kissed Beatrice and began to walk towards the back door. "Do you mind if I go listen to the tree?"

She shook her head, yawning once more.

Nathanael looked up at the large horse-chestnut in Jeff's backyard. _Hello._ He said to it.

_Hello,_ the tree said, rustling its leaves. _Wizards don't take much time to talk with me anymore. Why are you here?_

_I'm a new Wizard._ He said as he hoisted himself up into the tree. _I heard you say something to the wind earlier... I've never talked to a tree before. _He found a comfortable place to sit, leaning against the tree's thick trunk.

_What are you called, Wizard? I am- _The tree said several things in leaf rustle, morning shadow, and sunbeam that would translate simply to _Lidisie_.

_I'm Nathanael._

_Odd name,_ said the tree,_ But of course you humans have been odd since your first day on the earth._

_I guess we have._ The boy Wizard patted the tree's trunk absentmindedly. He shifted his position in the tree and looked at the ground. _Do you ever get tired of sitting in one spot? I mean, do you ever wish you could move around like in the old days of trees, or wish you were a creature with legs?_

_Never._ The tree said very proudly. _I am happy with what I've been given. _Although the tree didn't have eyes Nathanael had a strange feeling like Lidisie was looking at him. _I don't expect you to understand (You're just a human after-all), but staying rooted is never 'boring.' There is always growing to be done, and wind to talk to (the wind knows so many things), and star song to listen to at night. All the creatures that choose to perch in my branches are always interesting as well. No boy, I have never wished to move or be something I am not. Humans could learn much about being happy with what they've been given if they would just listen to us trees. _It seemed as if the tree sighed.

Nathanael nodded. _That makes sense I guess. I wouldn't trade my life to be a tree though._

_As it should be. Be who you are and don't complain about it. You'd do well to listen to me Wizardling. I've been standing watch over this house longer than you've been walking on those legs of yours._

Had he been speaking to another human, he might have retorted 'I'm almost 18!' but he decided this argument wouldn't have had much effect on the tree and more importantly, would have made him sound too much like a typical teenager. _I'm too old to sit in trees. _He thought.

_Says who? _The tree asked.

_What?_

_I heard you say you were too old to sit in trees. Who says you are? Children are never too old to sit in trees and never too young to listen to our wisdom._

_I didn't mean to say that, I was just thinking it... People are strange. They put age limits on everything._

_'People' aren't strange. _Lidisie replied. _Humans are strange. _The tree seemed to look away from Nathanael and over to the house. _Go inside boy,_ she said. _Something isn't right._

Nathanael jumped down from where he sat. He looked up at the tree.

_Don't stand there like a stone looking stupid all day, go!_

He didn't question the tree and ran inside. _"Thank you!" _He said to her.

Closing the glass sliding door behind him, Nathanael stood in Jeff's kitchen. He shook his head, to clear it. It seemed darker inside than it had been when he had left. The air felt heavy, thick, and sleepy, almost lethargic. Something about the house's atmosphere made Nathanael very nervous like a child afraid to walk across his bedroom floor after waking from a very bad dream. In that same child like state he quickly ran to the counter where Jeff had left his sword. Drawing it, he looked around the room. He clapped his hand over his mouth to suppress a yawn, afraid to make a sound.

Something moved.

With a several quick jumps, he landed in the doorway between the kitchen and the living-room. Beatrice lay sleeping on the couch. Her breathing was slower than it should have been. Everything seemed slower. Nathanael turned his head to survey the room. The silence was too much. He stopped his foot hard to make a noise, but the sound was muffled. He thought he heard someone giggle.

A flash of shadow.

Nathanael quickly turned in a circle, sword at the ready. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. "Come find me!" said a playful voice. "Come and find me!" The warm darkness of the house felt very prison like. Nathanael didn't know why. "I'll be sad if you don't play my game." The voice was childish but there was some power hidden in it that made the young Wizard nervous. _Who are you?_ He thought, he didn't dare speak it. There was some sort of magic over the house that made it feel as if he spoke, the world would break. He took one step towards the couch, half expecting the floorboard to squeak. Everything else seemed so much like a horror movie at the moment, he just thought a squeaky floorboard would complete the picture. He smiled, allowing himself this private joke. It made him briefly brave. He took another step.

Another flash of shadow and children's laughter.

_Children._ Where were Natalie and Adam?

"I'm getting bored!" The voice said angrily. "You better come and find me!" There was another movement out of the corner of Nathanael's eye and a sound like someone running across the floor in bare feet. He turned his head.

A child's shadow stood against the wall to Nathanael's left. It wasn't a Shadow Creature like the one on the bookstore Nathanael had seen earlier that day with Beatrice and Jeff, this one was just a shadow. It was two dimensional, no real details to its body, a seemingly normal shadow despite the fact that it wasn't attached to anything made of real matter. It began to move towards Nathanael. "Play my game," It said. "Play my game with me or... or I'll do something really bad. You won't like it! Trust me, you really won't like it!"


End file.
